More Mens Tennis Betting Allegations: Tennis-X Notes

Posted on November 12, 2007

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBSAlessio Di Mauro has received a nine-month ban for betting on tennis, but says the punishment is too severe and that he's a scapegoat. "The sentence is too harsh," Di Mauro told the Gazzetta dello Sport. "I made a silly mistake and I'm being punished excessively. I could go down in history as the only player banned for betting in tennis." -- Word is more punishment for more Italians is on the way...Nikolay Davydenko's lawyer, Frank Immenga, says ATP investigators told him that nine people based in Russia had bet $1.5 million on Davydenko losing the Sopot, Poland match-fixing under investigation to player Martin Vassallo Arguello, and another two gamblers (location unknown) boosted the total amount waged to $6.9 million...Roger Federer says he can't imagine Martina Hingistaking drugs...German Philipp Kohlschreiber has been accused of match-fixing made by an unnamed bookmaker in the German newspaper Die Welt. The bookmaker alleged that approximately 30 pros were involved in match-fixing for internet betting sites...Think you're tennis crazy? In November an Australian man paid approximately $7 million for a house adjacent to his property -- reportedly just to bulldoze it to make way for a tennis court. No word on whether the $7 million court would be hard, grass or clay.

Chris Evert and golf great Greg Norman publicly held hands and kissed during Evert's charity tennis bash in November in Boca Raton, but the divorce issues for the new high-profile couple are still pending. Lawyers for Norman's ex-wife were asking a Florida court for permission to take a deposition from Evert in December. Norman's lawyer said it was just an attempt to "annoy" he and Evert, but if Evert is forced to testify it could expose the length of their relationship and the final amount Norman's ex receives of his approximate $500 million empire...Prince Sports, Inc. has announced George Poulos as the company's new Global Category Director for Footwear...From dw-world.de: "His voice disguised, a supposed German tennis player has claimed on public television that at least two German tennis professionals were involved in betting scandals. The accusations have outraged the tennis world. The anonymous insider, speaking to German public broadcaster WDR, said that some professional tennis players had raked in more cash by engaging in game-rigging than they would have by winning the tournaments. He also claimed to have been offered a five-figure sum to act as a middleman in a betting affair. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is currently investigating a list of 140 allegedly fixed matches. Names of seven German tennis players were on the list, including two who intentionally lost matches, according to the anonymous informant. "It's time people started naming names," said successful German tennis pro Tommy Haas in response to the allegations, which he said may very well be true. "No one has ever approached me [about fixing a match]," added Haas, who's played professionally for 11 years. "I would have blown their cover. Only relentless openness can shed light on this mess."...The Bryan brothers have pulled from the Masters Cup in Shanghai, with Mike Bryan citing a sore elbow and looking to rest-up in time for the U.S. Davis Cup final hosting Russia at the end of November...Jelena Jankovic on her stealth tactics at the WTA tour Championships: "I will wear here red and black and also maybe green but I don't know how it will turn out with the green because the back of the court is bright green. Maybe they won't see me over there, at the back of the court."...Martina Hingis' manager says her client will contest the positive drug test for cocaine...Paul Annacone re-upped with the Brit Lawn Tennis Association to continue as head coach of British men's tennis...Gustavo Kuerten's younger brother, Guilherme, who suffered from cerebral palsy, died Wednesday of respiratory arrest. Despite health problems, Guilherme traveled almost everywhere with his brother who attempted to show him a world without limits. "I take him everywhere I can," Kuerten said of his brother during his French Open-winning days. "Sometimes, I will take him someplace where you wouldn't expect a handicapped guy to go, like parties. But what's nice, really, is for me to just share moments with him."...According to The Guardian, former Scotland Yard detectives working for the ATP flew to Frankfurt to interview Nikolay Davydenko's wife and brother about match-fixing allegations. "The ATP sent my client the telephone request when he was playing at the US Open," said Davydenko's lawyer Frank Immenga. "He had to provide within seven days records of all telephones owned and used by him." Immenga's advice was that the ATP's request contravened data protection laws since it would mean offering records of telephones belonging to family and friends. "He is a professional sportsman. He doesn't have his own mobile phone. He has a manager who does this for him."...Marion Bartoli became the first woman in WTA Tour Championships history to lose 6-0, 6-0 when she became an alternate in Madrid for the injured Serena Williams, failing to win a game against the player she beat at this year's Wimbledon, world No. 1 Justine Henin...Monica Seles commenting on a radio show in November on the stabbing incident that halted her career: "I really felt that I could not justify in my own brain someone stabs you in front of 7,000 people, admits that he planned it, and never spends a night in jail. I don't feel safe playing there (in Germany) again after what happened to me."...Former ATP VP Weller Evans blogging for Tennis Warehouse: "Congratulations to Tommy Haas, not for his disappointing near misses in attempting to reach both the Davis Cup Final and TMC, but for stepping up and demanding that his fellow players "start naming names" in the match-fixing controversy. Andy Murray, Gilles Elseneer, Werner Eschauer, Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement have all made public comments on the issue and yet revealed very little; hopefully they have shared information of more substance with the investigating authorities."...Boris Becker is reportedly launching a legal bid to obtain custody of his seven-year-old daughter Anna from model Angela Ermakova.